Ingo was hesitant to speak, let alone acknowledge his passenger as both he and Warden Melli led the way onward towards the unknown lake. His passenger said nothing either and whenever he turned to give her a searching glance, a means to make sure her cabin was undamaged, he always found her eyes staring lifelessly at the summit of , an expression of terror and dread as clear as the daylight before eventually catching his eye and staring back at the ground. It spooked him.
What was she staring at to make her look that way? Why can I not see it? She had told me before that it wasn't the gaping Rift, so what could it be?
He desperately wanted to ignore the fact that his passenger knew the name of the pokémon that had taken his memory from him and that she refused to tell him. He felt betrayed. The first resemblance of something close to an actual friend had come into his life and now that very 'friend' was keeping something so crucial from him. He wanted to be angry with her but… A headache throbbed at the base of his neck, tense and constrictive, and it left him rubbing the ache to try and soothe it.
He stared again at the silvery white gloves that adorned his hands and then glanced back to find that same fearful look on his passenger's face again. He could fight back the feelings of mistrust and betrayal for now. Until he could get to the bottom of what was going on here, at least.
They soon came to the edge of the Lonely Springs; not too far away were the Chamberclaw Cliffs which bordered the lake entirely. "I do believe we have arrived at our final station. Watch your step," Ingo declared.
"Our final station," Jaku murmured. At her side, the strange Zoroark (Jester, Ingo remembered) had sniffed at the humid air, frowning. "Right."
"Yeah, any cave or tunnel leading to this so-called entrance into the lake is unlikely," Warden Melli drawled. He came closer, towering over Miss Jaku as he crossed his arms. "What are you even looking for anyway? Another one of those thingies you're holding?"
"I can't tell you anything about that," she responded monotonously. She made a noncommittal noise and began studying the walled-in sides of the spring.
"You are… looking for a hidden cave or entrance to get to the lake?" Ingo tried.
"I'm not entirely sure. The only clue I got was just to come here to the Coronet Highlands. My source was incredibly vague about the exact location. It almost makes me wish I had some sort of map like Akari does. Would be handy."
Ingo didn't fail to notice her eyes wandering back to the summit of . Was what even more alarming was that the Zoroark could see it too. And as much as Ingo found his passenger's secrets alarming and uncomfortable, it wouldn't befit him as a conductor to not make sure they were at the right station.
"Do you wish to switch tracks to Mt. Coronet?" he added in an undertone so that Warden Melli couldn't hear. "I can't help but notice your transfixed looks at the mountain. The only structure atop the mountain is the Temple of Sinnoh, but the weather is treacherously cold there. Or maybe you wish to get a better look at the Rift?"
"No." Jaku's reply came the moment Ingo had stopped talking, the word rough and laced with fear. If his passenger could snarl, that would've been the closest thing to it. She took a step back and closed her eyes. "No, thank you," she added in a strangled undertone.
"...Tell me. Tell me what you see atop Mt. Coronet."
"I can't-" Jaku began, but Ingo cut her off. His patience was waning.
"I want you to tell me what it is you are so afraid of- and if you know why I cannot see it. It is clearly disturbing you. If you tell me, I might be able to help you."
Miss Jaku stared at him, a look of confusion, worry, and guilt twisting her features. She opened her mouth to speak but no words came out. To his own confusion, the orange jacket that had previously been around her waist was now firmly around her shoulders, and the Zoroark was gone. Jaku gave him a sour look, drawing her coat around herself as she looked away.
"I'm sorry. I didn't quite catch that?" Ingo began slowly. "Were you about to say something?"
Jaku laughed. A low and sad laugh as she gave him an uncomfortable smile. "I thought that might happen. I told you before and you didn't believe me. You don't remember anything of what I just said, do you?"
Melli looked just as confused as he was, eyes blinking slowly as if adjusting to the coming night. "I didn't hear you say anything and my ears are much sharper than his. You're not pulling our legs here, are-"
"You weren't wearing your jacket like that before, were you?" Ingo cut in.
Jaku's eyes widened. "No. I adjusted it as I was talking." She brightened. "So there's a catch to it. Interesting." She flashed both men a look as she took off the jacket and flung it away onto a nearby rock. "Let's see if this works."
Ingo watched as she opened her mouth. Nothing came out. The jacket was suddenly back around her shoulders and instead of looking confident that her theory was correct, she just looked even more sick and scared.
"Did it work?"
"...I don't want to test this stuff anymore."
Ingo had initially given up on trying to figure out what Miss Jaku was so transfixed on and instead decided that it was time to retire to his home station. He'd offered to share his tent with his passenger (nights in the Highlands were obscenely cold) and after much negotiating and assurances, they compromised with Miss Jaku setting up camp just a few paces away from his tent.
To him, having another person around him made him feel more at ease, especially here where things were always dangerous and people often went missing. And to have somebody so close to his home, where he always felt in control and on top of things, made him feel more homely than he'd ever been, even when he was first taken into the Pearl Clan Settlement in the Icelands.
"Excadrill, Haxorus, please depart the platform!" Ingo released his two pokémon along with the rest of his team, setting out their bowls of food as was custom. He watched fondly as Chandelure and Haxorus cuddled up beside him to eat, bringing their bowls along. He liked to think that they were keeping an eye on them. Before he had lost contact with Emmet, his brother had mentioned that there was another pokémon that had disappeared alongside him.
He pulled up his warped Xtransceiver, always hoping that the old screen would return and that he could just see his brother again. It never worked. It always just displayed the topographic map of the Highlands with his next mission. He hoped Emmet was okay, remembering how gaunt and unkept his brother was when they had first made contact all those months ago.
Now that spring was coming along, he would have to keep an eye on Lady Sneasler in case she decided to nurse another brood. It never occurred to him that he would eventually depart from Lady Sneasler as his warden. But then, what would he do if everything fell into place? Would he leave behind Hisui for everything he didn't know about in his future, or would he stay where things were familiar and eventually forget about- Ingo got to his feet. He did not want to think about that being a possibility. He would return home. That was his ideal and he would stick to it.
He poked his head outside. The sun was already behind the Highlands, casting the cliffs in a warm orange glow. Hidden partly under a jutting rock while supporting it was a dark canvas tent bordered with rocks, twigs, and bits of tent wall that crinkled underfoot as his passenger's pokémon came and went. The strange Zoroark and a Quilava were dozing just before the entrance, raising their heads to look at him as they both rolled onto their backs. He could not hear his passenger.
"Miss Jaku?"
Silence. At his words, an Arcanine and a Luxray poked their noses out of the tent, yawning. Had she left all of her pokémon behind?
That question was quickly answered as something emerged from the lake. Miss Jaku surged back onto the cliff ledge, straining the water from her clothes as she returned, carrying five Magikarp on a makeshift fishing spear.
"You are aware that I have food, correct?" Ingo began, quirking up an eyebrow.
"It's fish," Jaku deadpanned. "The Pearl Clan doesn't eat meat, do they? At least, that's what Melli told me while we were walking around earlier. Figured I should catch my own food instead of asking you for rations."
"I wouldn't have minded at all. You are my passenger after all." He took a seat on a tree stump just outside of his tent. "It's usually frowned upon to hunt pokémon, but yes. However, I am the exception to that rule." He glanced at the spear with five Magikarp speared upon it. "Surely, you're not planning on eating that much?"
"Of course not. I was going to offer some to you. Want some?"
"That would be very kind of you. It is not often that I have visitors this far into the Highlands. I suppose this would be a special occasion, then."
"You do realize you live at the foot of sheer cliffs, right? You are extremely lucky that I have a background in climbing mountains." Jaku directed her Quilava to light a fire in a patch of tinder that she'd created, Ingo helping in setting up a hanging pot and kettle.
"I must remain close to my noble, Lady Sneasler," he explained, bringing out a tub of uncooked rice and plump beans. "She lives within the Chamberclaw Cliffs above us."
"That's right! I completely forgot about the fact that you're a warden."
"Despite the fact that you refuse to address me without that honorific?"
"It's catchy. Gimme a break."
Ingo wasn't expecting to set up a whole banquet but that is exactly what had happened. No sooner did Ingo take the pot and kettle off the hearth did they have a feast upon their hands. Cooked Magikarp, steamed rice and plump bean stew, grain cakes, and to Ingo's chagrin, razz berry tea, a delicacy from the Diamond Clan.
Ingo let a devious smile play onto his features, remembering the time where he had spent some time at his passenger's own retreat. "Ah. Forgive me. I seem to have forgotten that you have no cookware to carry the leftovers with. Allow me to go and fetch you some-"
"First of all, I have cookware!" Jaku argued hotly, the same mischievous smile reflecting at him. "And second, bold of you to assume I'm not going to give my leftovers to my babies." As if to prove her point, the Zoroark poked its muzzle over Miss Jaku's shoulder and snatched up an extra clump of plump beans from her spoon, smirking. "Oi. That was my spoon, you jerk." The Zoroark only cackled and disappeared into her tent.
"A lively bunch then?"
"You have no idea. What about those two?" she waved her spoon at Excadrill and Haxorus who had cuddled up beside him. "They look familiar."
"Ah! Where are my manners? This is Excadrill and this is Haxorus." Ingo polished off his bowl of stew and set it aside, picking up a grain cake. "I've told you vaguely of the quest given to me by my deity."
"Ah, yes. A fetch quest, right?"
Ingo winced. "Yes, that's correct." He pulled out a wooden box from his folded jacket, gently taking out the worn paper. "During my quest to find these artifacts, I was taken by a deity called Mespirit to the Alabaster Icelands where I found my fellow partners."
"Interesting. I wonder how long they were there for?" Jaku mused. "I've had some time to get to know my old partners again; Lilith, Raptor, and Jester. You've met them all. Jester can't speak. At least, I've never known him to speak. He just pantomimes everything at me. Either that or he takes a stroll in my dreams."
Ingo swallowed his food and looked down at his hands. "It is unusual, being around a Zoroark that does not initially try to kill me."
"Huh?" Jaku choked on her food, taking a hasty gulp of her tea as she stared at him. "I mean, I've heard numerous tales of what people believe Zoroarks to embody, but I didn't know you had such bad experiences with them. If that was the case-" she looked to Jester and then to a pokéball at her hip, but Ingo stopped her.
"Do not worry about that. I owe your friend many thanks. They assisted me in quelling Lady Lilligant some time ago." Ingo didn't exactly trust the strange Zoroark, but it was better than the creature trying to lure him into a worsening blizzard wearing his brother's face. He shuddered at the memory.
"Good to hear, but if any of my pokémon are bothering you, please let me know. They're mischievous little rugrats but they're mine and I love them. I would hate for them to be affecting you in any way."
Night fell soon after and with a gentle bid of goodnight, Ingo made his way to his tent and hung up his coat and shoes. He made sure to tuck the Old Verse box into his trunk towards the side so that he could easily find it the next morning.
As if on cue, his Xtransceiver buzzed on his wrist, a new map taking the place of the Coronet Highlands. The Obsidian Fieldlands would be his next destination to finding the remaining Old Verses. It would leave him closer to Jubilife Village to have the verses processed by the Galaxy Team, but it would take him further from the Coronet Highlands. Further from Lady Sneasler.
As things were going, it seemed that each noble was becoming frenzied in some sort of order. First it was the two nobles in the Fieldlands and then came the Mireland nobles' turns. By that logic, whichever noble became frenzied next, the adjoining noble would almost certainly join it. With a furrowed brow, Ingo took up a quill and wrote his theory on a spare piece of parchment, having Alakazam carry the message to Irida. If he was correct, then they would be able to be better prepared.
By that logic, did that make the Fieldlands free of frenzied nobles permanently? Or was it just a farce by the Almighty? Ingo knew that he was well prepared to deal with the nobles with two currently under his belt, but still.
He found his way into his futon, Chandelure settling into the pitch of the ceiling as Excadrill and Haxorus laid on either side of him. So long as he had his partners and his unshakable will to get things done, he would succeed. That was both his truth and his ideal: that so long as he kept walking forward, he would get back his memories and his brother.
"I can't believe I did it! Ingo, I did it! We did it!"
"Settle down Emmet or you'll spill your drink." Ingo picked up his glass of wine, courtesy of Elesa as both the brothers, her, and a few of the other gym leaders they knew gathered under the golden lights of the decorated porch. Ingo took a sip of the very sweet wine (he might just stock another bottle of the stuff in the future) and found his eyes lingering on his very drunk brother as he leaned haphazardly over the banister.
"Excited?" Skyla asked as she came up beside him. "How long did it take Emmet to get that engineering degree?"
Ingo tapped his chin thoughtfully. "Four years. It took Emmet four years to get that degree. I cannot wait to see what improvements he comes up with for the newest battle cars." He gave Skyla a mischievous look. "I do hope he remembers something to combat Haxorus's earthquakes.
His fellow gym leader gave him a slap on the shoulder. "That's mean! How come you didn't go for a degree like him?"
"I am more geared towards the safety precautions and use of the main station than the battle cars, like Emmet is. They need little to no improvement as both Emmet and I keep them well-oiled and in perfect maintenance. The battle cars though- they have much room for improvement."
"Well, I can't wait either way!" Skyla declared, leaning against his shoulder. "Let me know when Emmet is done drafting those plans of his so I can come and crush you two on the Battle Subway!"
Ingo let out a loud and hearty laugh. "Oh, I most certainly will!"
Ingo was roused from sleep at the feeling of Haxorus getting to its feet. The large beast growled at the sound of shuffling grass outside the tent, the chirp of Kricketots nearly blotting out the sound completely. Ingo was on his feet in less than a second, listening as the sounds of footsteps wove around his tent and headed toward the cliff. He could feel his hairs sticking straight up, quietly grabbing the saber tucked beside his trunk.
He carefully peered out of a flap in the tent door. It was dark out, but the light of the full moon easily directed his eyes towards a crawling shade high up on the cliff. There, perched on top of a Zoroark was Miss Jaku, their form heavily obscured in shadows.
"Quickly. We need to get there before the moon is overhead. Let's go." In a flash, the two were gone.
All of Miss Jaku's things had been taken too. Nothing had been left behind, the only trace of her being there were her footsteps in the grass and their wet imprints on the cliff. Why leave without telling him anything? As a warden, it was his job to make sure that his passengers remained safe here. Leaving in the middle of the night without so much as a word was most definitely not safe.
Ingo made a split decision to follow, grabbing his coat and hat from the rack as well as an extra bag of supplies and his saber. He gathered up his pokémon and a map, and was out of his tent with minutes to spare. Losing somebody in the Highlands was astonishingly easy. Any longer and he risked losing her trail completely.
Something landed in the grass beside him, a pair of beady red eyes meeting his. Ingo met the pokémon's eyes, nodding. It was just Lady Sneasler. "We need to follow her," Ingo voiced. Lady Sneasler nodded and quickly scaled the cliff, Ingo right behind her as they got to the cliff's edge.
Wherever it was Miss Jaku was heading, she certainly wasn't attempting to cover up her tracks. He couldn't see her at all even this high up in the Highlands, but Lady Sneasler had already found her scent and was the only guiding factor leading them to his unruly passenger. She wasn't heading towards the summit, which was both comforting and not so comforting.
Her scent trail wove around boulders and through shortcuts Ingo hadn't even known existed. Both he and Lady Sneasler had emerged into the Lonely Spring, the water reflecting the brilliant full moon above. Lady Sneasler hissed. At the noise, Ingo looked to where his noble was staring, noticing immediately that the spring water was frozen in place. None of the trees moved. The stars did not twinkle in the sky and a breeze did not blow.
Only then did they notice something moving a few paces away. Miss Jaku and her Zoroark were hunched before a cave, their eyes set as they stared at something within her hands. They risked a glance towards the summit of Mt. Coronet, eyes alight with dread before they found him staring back.
Confusion, surprise, and then fear flashed in her eyes as she quickly bid Zoroark into the cave, her footsteps soundless as Ingo and Lady Sneasler scrambled after her. Where was she going? That cave didn't lead anywhere! And why was she being so secretive about it?
To his surprise and horror, the cave did lead somewhere. He let Chandelure out to lead the way as they followed the wet footprints of Jaku until they eventually cornered her.
"I don't understand your intentions. What are you doing here so late at night?" Ingo demanded. "It is dangerous away from the station. Please return immediately."
From behind her, the Zoroark snarled. Still water pooled around them and Ingo had a sinking feeling why he had assumed that this cave had a dead ending. It didn't. This place that they were in was just submerged in water, Lady Sneasler having to hunch over to not bump into the cave ceiling. As if to prove his point, the earth lurched under his feet, mud squelching under his shoes. This cave should have been flooded.
"You're not supposed to be here," Jaku growled, tightening her grip on her own saber. "Go to Moonview Arena and do not return to this area. Do not return to Chamberclaw Cliffs. I have something that needs to be done and I want you out of harm's way.."
"I can assist."
"You can't. It won't let you. You have your task and I have mine. Just go to Moonview Arena and wait until I come back."
"Will you come back?"
Jaku shot a concerned look at her Zoroark who then nodded. With a huff, Jaku conceded defeat and made her way out of the water and past him without so much as a backwards glance, having called Zoroark back to its ball. That was… much easier than Ingo thought it would be.
They walked, his passenger slowly leading them toward Moonview Arena. Ingo had tried to get Jaku to explain herself but whenever he would ask, she wouldn't even look at him, hands balled into fists at her side. When they had made it quite a distance from the cave, Ingo finally forced his passenger to look at him only to recoil. Jaku's form had blurred around the edges and when she finally turned around, Ingo found cold blue eyes glaring at him. The pokémon dropped the disguise like a rotten piece of prey and faced him.
"An illusion," Ingo whispered. A trick! And that meant- He turned to race back toward the cave but Zoroark stopped him, hauling him back gently by the collar of his jacket. Lady Sneasler snarled and lashed out, the Zoroark dodging by a hair.
The ground rumbled underfoot and Ingo watched as the lake rippled and swayed, an unknown figure riding the waves as the moon brightened to the point where Ingo had to look away. Within a moment the figure was gone.
Hours had passed. Zoroark refused to leave him alone for even a moment, looking pensive and agitated as it kept him from leaving the start of the Sonorous Path. Ingo realized with a start that Jaku had foreshadowed Jester using her image to trick him.
"Jester can't speak. At least, I've never known him to speak."
Lady Sneasler had left some time ago, not attempting to approach the cave after Zoroark had steered it clear with a terrifying snarl.
"You know something like your partner. Something you can't tell me," Ingo muttered.
The Zoroark shot him a nasty look, looking more than ever like its Hisuian counterpart. All this time, it had not stopped trying to lead him in the direction of Moonview Arena where Warden Melli made his camp. Perhaps getting his assistance to figure things out would help things, wouldn't it?
A horrendous screech parted the silence of the Highlands like claws through flesh and Ingo froze as a brilliant flash of golden light exploded from the direction of the Fabled Spring. Zoroark too had paused before huffing, grabbing Ingo and throwing him onto its back before rushing towards the direction the screech had come from.
Ingo knew that screech. That sounded eerily like Lady Sneasler. Seconds dragged into minutes as the two scrambled towards the now, much louder fighting sounds, a thread of lightning coming a few inches from his face as they arrived at the spring.
The flowers were scorched. The trees had been knocked over. Dead Magikarp floated on the surface of the river, the scent of burning flesh triggering Ingo's gag reflex as he scrambled off of Zoroark's back to stand. He faltered, watching as something stuck to his shoe shining red in the moonlight; blood.
Lady Sneasler appeared from a clump of dead foliage, claws flashing as she leapt at an alpha Luxray. Ingo took a step back. That wasn't just any alpha Luxray. Memories of a tattered corpse flashed in his mind, Melli and himself having to haul the deceased toward the foothills of the Highlands. His saber was coated in blood then.
The beast towered above the noble, its messy black hair sticking straight up as it bared rotten black fangs at Lady Sneasler. In the light of its electricity, it illuminated the many burns and claw marks littering his noble's body. It also illuminated a glossy pair of terrified eyes staring back at him; Warden Melli.
With a blood-curdling howl, Lady Sneasler was knocked clear, tumbling over and into the earth as the beast turned to face Ingo instead. Maneater was back.